


The Fight Within

by levitatethis



Category: Heroes - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-16
Updated: 2010-05-16
Packaged: 2017-10-09 12:02:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/87108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/levitatethis/pseuds/levitatethis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabriel and Sylar have different views of Mohinder and what he means to them.  Moves from past to present to future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fight Within

_All struggles   
are essentially   
power struggles.   
Who will lead,   
who will define,   
refine,   
confine,   
design,   
who will dominate.   
All struggles   
are essentially   
power struggles,   
and most   
are no more intellectual   
than two rams   
knocking their heads together.   
_**\-- Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower**   
  
Gabriel Gray and Sylar agree on one thing: that Mohinder Suresh deserves to live. However their reasons are very different and the battle that rages between them over the geneticist is threatening to derail everything. Mohinder should never have been a serious factor, simply someone who exited their life almost as soon as he entered. But there is nothing random about Mohinder and he has become a fixed point for both Gabriel and Sylar. He is too significant; too important to simply let go. Without knowing it he is in the crosshairs of both Gabriel and Sylar. And both see a very different purpose for him.

For Gabriel the reasons are pure. At least he likes to think so. In the simplest of words he is in love with Mohinder. In all his years, so used to being alone, focused more on the timepieces that crossed his desk than the people who handed them over, he never thought he would ever meet someone, man or woman, who would awaken something in him he never thought existed.

Gabriel had accepted his uneventful and safe lot in life until a stranger had unexpectedly walked in. Chandra Suresh, Mohinder's father, had opened Gabriel's eyes to all the possibilities and potential that existed in him. But that had ended badly and Gabriel noted it as a lesson, Sylar made certain of it, that he should never let himself get emotionally involved. It clouds judgment. And so, with Sylar moving into the driver's seat Gabriel was content to take his place in the passenger seat watching as events unfolded in front of his eyes yet with his own hands.

Then Mohinder Suresh had shown up and everything cracked.

He was all smiles and understanding, awkwardness and caring, intelligence and good humour. And he was as lonely as Gabriel. During their road trip Sylar would sit back and let Gabriel engage in the long conversations with Mohinder that would fill up the empty spaces between destinations. Sylar could see the crush that Gabriel was starting to develop on the young scientist. He could also see that even though Mohinder did not return those romantic feelings he was certainly beginning to see the stranger with whom he spoke to as a friend.

Sylar had no interest in squashing Gabriel's pipe dream. Gabriel's presence seemed to keep Mohinder on track with the list and since that was Sylar's goal, well, it all worked out. The more time spent between Mohinder and Gabriel the more Gabriel's feelings took hold. There was a time when the only thing that brought Gabriel comfort was the ticking of a fixed clock. But now there is also the sound of Mohinder' s heartbeat.

The watchmaker and the geneticist.

For Sylar, Mohinder was simply a necessity to keep around until he had served his purpose. Originally Sylar had planned to kill Mohinder once the list he was putting together was complete. The list, all those special people, was all consuming. In any case it would be quite fitting, he thought, that Mohinder would die by the hands of the same man who killed his father. Eventually, though, Sylar had to compromise. Gabriel's feelings for Mohinder started to become a distraction and Sylar did not want to deal with a devastated Gabriel, at least not yet. So Sylar agreed that once he had the list he would spare Mohinder's life and just leave. Sylar did not care either way, as long as he had the list.

Of course, though rarely admitted, every powerful person secretly desires having a sidekick, an ally; an accomplice who is appreciative of who they are and what they are capable of. This person should be most helpful in accomplishing the task at hand; they should also be the truest of confidantes able to keep the most serious and personal of secrets. A certain type of coercion may be necessary to keep this person in line; playing on a personality trait that under normal circumstances is admirable but in the wrong situation can be deadly. No man is an island and having the right person in one's corner is the difference between everything and nothing.

No one was more surprised than Sylar when Mohinder, unknowingly, unwittingly, became the prime candidate for that role.

Sylar can admit he got sloppy during the roadtrip. He became so accustomed to letting Gabriel deal with Mohinder on the day-to-day stuff that he let his own guard down. Sometimes the distances between places was so great, Mohinder's frustration with his own lack of progress ever growing, that it made sense to let Gabriel be Mohinder's main source of human connection. In any case it made Gabriel happy.

However if Sylar is honest he must admit that Mohinder was interesting to be around. Once in awhile during one of Mohinder and Gabriel's many conversations, sometimes about academics other times quite personal, Sylar would tune in. He began to get used to having someone there to speak with, especially someone so appreciative of his power, whether as Zane or the elusive boogieman. Those conversations between Mohinder and Gabriel, that Sylar began to slip into, took on a life of their own. They became something to look forward to with anticipation. For Gabriel they were of the deepest human connection. For Sylar they were the most intellectually stimulating conversations he had had with anyone. It never occurred to him, during all their time together, that Mohinder had figured him out and was planning to take him down.

When that time arrived it did not involve any special weapons. Rather it was a simple cup of drugged chai that started it off. The interrogation that followed was of curious interest to Sylar. While tied up he paid very close attention to Mohinder's behaviour, actions and weapon choice. Sylar threw everything he could at Mohinder: his father, sister, lack of worthiness and hypocrisy, just to see how he would react. Throughout the entire ordeal he could see the hesitation in Mohinder's eyes even as Mohinder tried to hide it. He knew that Mohinder wanted to seek revenge for his father yet when he looked at Sylar he also saw Gabriel, or Zane as the case may be (who was really just a construct of Sylar and Gabriel), who was his friend. There was also the hesitation to actually, for the first time, take a life. It was almost quaint for Sylar.

More important to him, however, was seeing Mohinder set aside the friendship and come after him in the most ingenious way.

Again he had to admit he did not see it coming. He would have expected a gun as the only weapon of choice. It would be very pedestrian. When Mohinder pulled out the tuning fork instead Sylar immediately elevated his opinion of the man. And as excruciating as the spinal tap was, for Sylar, it added a layer to Mohinder he did not think existed. Of course later Mohinder did end up using a gun. Sylar would have expected nothing less. However when Mohinder actually shot the gun at Sylar's head there was no doubt left for what Mohinder was capable of and what he could become. Sylar was impressed with Mohinder's ability to compromise himself, to inflict pain if need be. To still fight for some perceived greater good. Most impressive though was Mohinder's bravery in trying to take him on. Sylar could have done anything to Mohinder that night. And though he had his fun with him he had to give credit where credit was due. That night Mohinder proved himself to be a worthy adversary, deserving of life and, potentially, a position at Sylar's side.

The murderer and the vengeful son.

**********  **********  **********  **********  **********

This is when the real struggle begins.

Sylar knows he has to step lightly if he wants Mohinder on board. He knows that Mohinder will never consciously support his mission. But a white lie here, a manipulation there and Mohinder will eventually fall into line. What Sylar can accomplish with Mohinder at his side would be an achievement unlike any other. It should be easy. It _would _be easy if not for Gabriel.

When it comes to Gabriel, Mohinder represents salvation. He is forgiveness and absolution for all of Gabriel and Sylar's sins perpetrated on the world. But for this to happen he cannot be corrupted by Sylar. Gabriel needs the Mohinder who is…was…his friend. He desperately tries to reach out but Sylar is now much stronger and a betrayed Mohinder is all cynicism and suspicions. There are times when Sylar wants to yell _"He doesn't love you! He never will – so let me do what I fucking have to!"_ but he knows that will only result in Gabriel trying to hold on tighter.

**********  **********  **********  **********  **********

It has been months since the fight at Kirby Plaza. A lifetime seems to have passed since Mohinder was last in his stratosphere. Sylar last remembers catching a glimpse of Mohinder out of the corner of his eye helping the man he had shot, Matt Parkman. How was Sylar to know that that might be his last chance to see Mohinder? In all honesty he never thought that the time traveling man would actually get the better of him. But he did, much to Sylar's self disgust. Yet Sylar still managed to escape. Not that anyone noticed. People see what they want to see. In his case they saw his death.

It is a continuous game of people underestimating each other.

There is a short time where Sylar attempts to track down Mohinder. But the man seems to have gone MIA. No trace to follow, no scent to find. It is as if he has just up and disappeared off the face of the earth.

As the months go by Gabriel recedes further and further into the background. Without Mohinder there is no hope for everything he has done, intentional or not. Sylar admits he is not sorry for this. He has names to follow and people to find, even in his presently weakened state. It is proving to be a tough job but one that has to be done. Mohinder would have been a great help. Sylar is quite focused but he keeps himself prepared. He knows if Mohinder ever crosses his path again that Gabriel will come out fighting and that could set back everything Sylar has accomplished.

**********  **********  **********  **********  **********

It is a day like any other. Sylar is back in New York City with the most recent entry on his list. Walking down the street, for a moment he is lost in thought and turns right instead of left. He heads a block in the wrong direction before he realizes his mistake. As he stops to turn around he hears it. Amidst all the noise that makes up the character of a city, noise he has learned to categorize, decipher and filter, he almost misses it. But there is no mistaking what fills his ears.

A heartbeat he has not heard in over a year and a half.

A rumble begins deep inside him.   
_Yes Gabriel, I hear it. So nice of you to visit. It's been awhile._

His eyes carefully observe the busy street and finally rest on the crowded sidewalk across the way.

_Mohinder._

He looks a bit older, as if the events of the recent past have attempted to etch their way onto his skin. There is a hint of coldness that was not there before. Yet, for the most part, he seems very much as he always was. He still has such a presence. Wearing a cream colour linen suit with a white button down shirt Sylar guesses he is going somewhere important.

He has a serious look on his face as he speaks to the young girl holding his hand. Her long brown hair skirts her shoulders as she attempts to shift the backpack she is wearing without letting go of Mohinder's hand. Dressed in blue jeans, a purple t-shirt and sandals the two of them are the image of a father taking his daughter to school; or a brother and sister.

_Molly Walker._

Sylar watches as Molly says something to Mohinder. It must be a joke because Mohinder's serious face warms as it suddenly lights up with his signature smile. They grin at each other with the type of familiarity and warmth that exists amongst family members or, at the very least, people you would lay down your life for. As Sylar watches Mohinder and Molly walk away he feels the shift within him. Gabriel is trying to fight his way forward.

_Oh no, not yet _Sylar thinks as he shoves Gabriel back.

He forgets about the name on the list and starts heading in the same direction as Mohinder and Molly.

A grin appears on Sylar's face as he walks past all the oblivious and unsuspecting people, out for a stroll, shopping, completely unaware of the seismic event that has just presented itself.

_This is going to be fun. _

_Let the games begin.   
_

**Author's Note:**

> Heroes Slash Awards  
> **Nominated for Best Mohinder/Sylar Fic (PG13)**


End file.
